Dashcam recommendations for RX

[i-s]

That's very disappointing. I hope that you get your money back before long. 

[GSLV6]

eBay were great.  After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing they recognised that it shouldn't be dealt with as a regular refund case so made an immediate refund which I have just received.  I'll now look for a replacement.

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, GSLV6 said:

Ebay is not a good place to buy these things.

Can't really agree with you there Paul. eBay's brilliant for all manner of things, you just have to be careful and if things seem to good to be true....

[GSLV6]

Trouble is, you really never know whether an account is hijacked until you pay but at least they sort refunds out in that event.

[GSLV6]

I finally managed to get hold of a Nextbase 312G dashcam which is a 1080p 30fps full HD camera.  I bought this for several reasons:

 

Firstly, not all 4K cameras are quite what they seem (many are only capable of 24fps and some are only actually 2K resolution, also many of the so called 4K cams have bitrates that are too slow to reliably freeze numberplate data from moving vehicles).

The 312 series has for several years won top marks in reviews for performing optically equally as well as the more expensive models in the range and uses a similar 6 element glass lens providing a useful 140 degrees.  Any more than this is not a lot of use to me, as looking at a few 170 degree lenses, fisheye distortion is very noticable and detail drops off at the edges, so anything I reckon between 90 and 140 degrees is more useful.

I bought it also for the excellent customer support and useful website offered by Nextbase themselves.

 

It's actually quite small, but I still wouldn't leave it in an unoccupied car as it's easily visible from the outside.  The mounting (powered) base is far less obtrusive and can be left in place.

I took a few photos of how I mounted it and where I routed the cable.  Bear in mind that I had the low sun in my eyes and photos didn't all come out well but just so you get the picture.

 

I've put together this mini guide below as it may be of help to anyone else considering doing the same.  Total time to fit camera: 10 minutes.

Start with the mount to the passenger side of the rear view mirror and find a spot and angle for the camera that takes in the full width of the road, angled so you just see your bonnet in frame.  

Next, tuck the power cable under the front of the head lining using a plastic ruler to gentle prise it down enough to get the cable in, and route towards the front passenger windscreen pillar and across the join between the down pillar covering and headlining.

Cable from headlining now being tucked into post cover:

Shown below all neatly hidden away:

 

Next, route the cable to the main cabin rubber door seal and with the aid of that ruler again, gently prise the seal open enough to tuck the  in neatly and run it down to the first of the main footwell panel joins.  You can just see part of the cable here as it comes from under the rubber seal into the gap between footwell panels:

 

I found it easier to undo the plastic nut from the front of the panel (in the footwell area to the left) and partly remove the panel to get the cable neatly in.  Once done, replace the panel.

Feel for the front of the panel under the glovebox area.  The edge comes down with little effort.  Don't remove it, just prise it gently open a little and feed the cable along the front edge inside the panel until it meets the centre console area.

From there, you can affix self adhesive cable clips (I will do this) and the cable is routed to the under-storage bin in the console and the power adaptor plugged in.  I never use this power point anyway but if I need to I'll just unplug the dashcam feed so no big deal.  I decided not to hard wire it as it's a lot of faff just to save seeing the last few inches of cable.

Now once the camera is mounted, it automatically turns on and starts recording until the ignition is switched off or until you press the stop button to pause recording.

I would have preferred a smaller unit (even though this really is dinky) without a screen but honestly, it would be fiddly to set it up properly without taking a lot of test clips and altering the position to suit.

To download, you unclip the dashcam and using the lead provided plug it into your PC or Mac and press the "mass storage" selection on the dashcam when it senses a power connection to the computer.  You simply treat it as an offboard mass storage devise, highlight the files you'd like to transfer and load them to either your machine or offboard drive/usb and you can view them with a windows media viewer or download the Nextbase software (really very useful as it includes a google map view of your trip route as well as a host of other information).  Job done!

 

If I can do it, everyone on here can do it. 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Herbie]

Glad you got it sorted in the end Paul. Just curious - what's that box to the left of the suction cup?

[GSLV6]

That's just a ferrite magnet Herbie which lessens the risk of EMI interference on things like DAB radio from the power cord.

[LexusPartsDirect]

We are supplying the Genuine Lexus NextBase Dashcam at cost price for a limited time only!

https://www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/parts/lexus-lc/lexus-lc-2016-present/exterior-interior/lexus-nextbase-1080p-integrated-dash-cam/

Free shipping for Lexus Owners Club Members, the code can be found in the club discounts area.

We beat all main dealer prices.

Genuine Parts Direct to your door.

www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk

[LexusPartsDirect]

Genuine Lexus Front and Rear dashcam now available at Lexus Parts Direct!

only £249.00 in our BLACK FRIDAY sale.

https://www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/parts/lexus-lc/lexus-lc-2016-present/exterior-interior/lexus-nextbase-1080p-front-and-rear-integrated-dash-cam/

Use discount code: lovelexus for free shipping, exclusive to owners club members!

[Morkunas]

I was lucky.when bought car all prewiring was done.i just bought Aukey dash cam and installed as per picture.was lucky what cable connection was exactly same😉

[PGLex]

I have recently fitted the Viofo A129 Duo Pro 4k versions.     Really good quality, and very happy.   Rear Cam did create interference issues with the DAB radio, making it cut out a bit.   Added ferrite beads and problem solved.    Quality of pictures both night and day and the app on the phone to download clips if you want them is great.    I wanted something that just did its job and you can forget it unless something happens.  the Viofo fitted the bill for me.

[i-s]

On 1/17/2019 at 3:39 PM, GSLV6 said:

Cable from headlining now being tucked into post cover:

Shown below all neatly hidden away:

 

Next, route the cable to the main cabin rubber door seal and with the aid of that ruler again, gently prise the seal open enough to tuck the  in neatly and run it down to the first of the main footwell panel joins.  You can just see part of the cable here as it comes from under the rubber seal into the gap between footwell panels:

Please please please don't do this!

Your wire now crosses the curtain airbag. If it deploys....

Worst case scenario - the wire is strong enough to prevent the airbag correctly deploying, risking injury/death for your passenger. 

Best case scenario - the airbag correctly deploys by overpowering the wire, which will then whip across the cabin, potentially causing serious injury. 

This is what it looks like with the A-pillar trim removed:

 

You should wire down the A-pillar and cross the pillar at the bottom, more info in my thread: 

It takes a little longer to do this way, but please don't risk injury to yourself or your family.